


Murphy's Law

by DOMinMatrix



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Canon Related, I consider this as whump prompts at least, Multi, Stalking, Tumblr Prompt, Whumptober, canon only applies with individual plots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26775955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DOMinMatrix/pseuds/DOMinMatrix
Summary: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong"But maybe sometimes also go right in the process. Who knows?Bad things Happen Bingo Card prompts
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Comments: 9
Kudos: 27





	Murphy's Law

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: The Collector  
> Character(s): Nathaniel Kurtzberg (established Nath/Marc)  
> TW: Overly possessive nature, idolization, obsession, stalking, etc.  
> @badthingshappenbingo

If there was one thing about being an artist Nathaniel loved - it was sharing his craft with others. 

It was the community and camaraderie that came with it that made him feel like he was a part of something bigger than himself.

It was the validation and support he craved when a lot of his elders and peers told him that being an artist was not sustainable.

One thing he didn't like about being an artist? Harsh criticism from those who considered themselves the 'who's-who' in any fandom or creative circle. The people who just had to leave their "honest opinion" on something he put his blood sweat and tears into. 

It wasn't like criticism wasn’t okay - he'd rather someone was honest with him than to lie to his face, but some people took the role too far.

That said, it was hardly something he really took to heart anymore. Sure, it stung after reading a not-so-kindly worded review on the comic he wrote with his boyfriend, and maybe he'd grumble about someone's lack of understanding of artistic intent if someone commented negatively on his art online - but it was something he'd grown rather thick-skinned to.

He couldn’t say the same for some of his more - avid fans, though. 

“Ohhh Nathaniel… come out, come out, where-ever you are!”

The overly sweet and affectionate sing-song voice made the red-head shutter, swallowing back a terrified gasp as the latest Akuma stalked ever-closer to his hiding place in the art room storage closet. He pushed himself back further in the dark space, careful not to bump the packed shelves that would send precariously stacked medium tumbling to the floor - a clear signal to the lurking Akuma.

Not that it probably mattered at this point. 

Curator, as the young woman was calling herself now, hummed almost happily as she roamed through the room, taking her time - her steps echoing loudly in the otherwise empty class. “Nathaniel, my Treasure, there’s no need to hide! Curator is going to make it so everyone can see how priceless you truly are.”

Nathaniel’s skin crawled with the way she practically purred the possessive nickname she’d begun calling him since crashing through his class’s window that morning.

Her Treasure.

Like he was a thing she could buy and place upon her wall to admire - which he was almost certain is exactly what she planned to do. 

And to think, this all started with an internet troll.

Some asshole looking to get a rise out of him, commenting on all of his posted works with an unusual amount of hate and vitriol. The comments weren’t even all that coherent - which made it laughable after the initial shock wore off. Who the hell had so much time on their hands that this is what they dedicated their lives to?

And it didn’t hurt that almost immediately after each hateful post, his followers and friends jumped in to defend his honor. Sending him tons of love through messages and on the post. Sharing his art with their own followers just to spite the troll.

But there was always that one follower who took it just a little too far.

And this wasn’t the first time he’d seen xXNath_Love_ArtXx bombard his comments and DM.

It had been mostly sweet. She - as he had recently discovered - was a big fan of his art style and made that abundantly clear in the way she gushed to him, telling him of all the orders she’d made of the prints he made available online. He was flattered.

But as flattered as he was, it was a bit much at times. Like when he saw Adrien’s fans sometimes and the way they threw themselves at him with little regard for the appropriateness or his feelings.

Not - not that he considered himself to be a celebrity or anything. It was just that the feeling was the same.

And when the first waves of messages hit his inbox after the troll started posting comments, Nathaniel knew this was going to get out of hand.

He just didn’t realize how out of hand until she started declaring how much she knew about him and loved his art and then loved him.

It left him feeling sick. A rolling in his stomach over the ways she argued against the troll with information he didn’t share with anyone else. Stuff about his personal life. 

She wasn’t just a fan. xXNath_Love_ArtXx was obsessed. 

He was already trying to figure out what to do about this girl, trying to figure out the best way to talk to Marc about it when Curator crashed into his class, a binder clutched in her arms, and began using the blank pages to collect his classmates and turn them into poor renditions of his art style.

That is, until she’d noticed him standing stock-still in the back, too paralyzed to move.

He’s not sure how Adrien had moved so fast to get in front of him and protect him from the Akuma advancing on him, or how Marinette managed to get him to follow after her (though the ache in his wrist from where she’d pulled him along was a fairly decent clue), but he owed them both for having gotten him to relative safety.

Marinette had been the one to deposit him in the closet, telling him to lay low until she came back.

But that had been some time ago. 

And the school had gone far too quiet.

“Nathaniel, my treasure, there’s no sense in hiding. I know where you are. Come on out so I can show you off to the world!”

Nathaniel swallowed hard as the doorknob turned slowly, like a scene straight out of a horror film.

“I just want to show you and the world how much I love you, and how talented you are! Why are you hiding from me? Didn’t you know?”

The door finally swung open revealing the Akuma and the deranged, lust-filled grin she sent him as her eyes caught his.

“I’m your biggest fan!” She sneered, lifting her binder to claim him for her collection. 


End file.
